On topic: Those famous 6 Killer Apps
Yeah, I know. Niall Ferguson and all that. He's immensely popular, very eloquent, and he can destroy any opponent in an instant. I get it. But does it mean he's right about these 6 Killer Apps?
http://documentaryheaven.com/civilization-is-the-west-history/
"Niall Ferguson asks why it was that Western civilization, from inauspicious roots in the 15th century, came to dominate the rest of the world; and if the West is about to be overtaken by the rest.
Ferguson reveals the killer apps of the West’s success - competition, science, the property owning democracy, modern medicine, the consumer society and the Protestant work ethic - the real explanation of how, for five centuries, a clear minority of mankind managed to secure the lion’s share of the earth’s resources."
The Killer Apps: Competition / Science / Property / Medicine / Consumerism / Work.
And now a few questions. What knowledge can we get by using these 6 apps and applying them to our world? Does such an approach risk automatically passing judgment on previous events and societies and applying knowledge post-factum? If we assume his theory is right, how would these 6 apps help us comprehend the current economic problems in the West?
Has competition deteriorated due to the big banks and financial institutions limiting the flow of money? Are property rights under threat today, since more homeowner's associations have taken over homes, and the use of eminent domain has increased exponentially, and since a multitude of foreclosures have been pushed by banks who take over homes that they don't hold mortgages on?
Does the sum of the influence of modern medicine increasing the life expectancy overall + the increased affinity to leisure time rather than hard work, create an unsustainable situation where more people retire than those who work hard?
Does the deterioration of work ethic have any place in this scheme, and is it a fact at all? Also the deteriorating levels of critical thinking on part of large chunks of the populace, due to cliched, backward, and inadequate education and the focusing on regurgitating old talking points and concepts that are learned by heart, as opposed to being understood and critically examined - am I just imagining things, or is it a factor that Ferguson hasn't... "factored in"? Does it have a role in the way society is shaped today? In other words, are people generally losing their ability to come up with new fresh ideas due to complacency, and are they instead preferably resorting to old schemes? And even if not so, would it pose a big risk for society in the long-term?
And lastly, has the consumer society reached a point of ultimate gluttony (or there's still room to dig even further down), with such nice manifestations of it like rampant obesity (think Wall-E), laziness (both physical and intellectual), and the neglect of personal savings at the expense of living on credit, way beyond our means? I.e., has our society at large passed the critical point of unsustainability? If not yet - when/if? If yes - is there a way back?
And how about Ferguson's mention of China and Libya... Is it even possible to have a democracy without comprehensive property rights? Is such a society sustainable in the long run?
Sorry that I don't have answers to all these. Perhaps I'll come up with some myself, in the course of the discussion. But I'd be more willing to hear some opinions for the time being.
http://documentaryheaven.com/civilization-is-the-west-history/
"Niall Ferguson asks why it was that Western civilization, from inauspicious roots in the 15th century, came to dominate the rest of the world; and if the West is about to be overtaken by the rest.
Ferguson reveals the killer apps of the West’s success - competition, science, the property owning democracy, modern medicine, the consumer society and the Protestant work ethic - the real explanation of how, for five centuries, a clear minority of mankind managed to secure the lion’s share of the earth’s resources."
The Killer Apps: Competition / Science / Property / Medicine / Consumerism / Work.
And now a few questions. What knowledge can we get by using these 6 apps and applying them to our world? Does such an approach risk automatically passing judgment on previous events and societies and applying knowledge post-factum? If we assume his theory is right, how would these 6 apps help us comprehend the current economic problems in the West?
Has competition deteriorated due to the big banks and financial institutions limiting the flow of money? Are property rights under threat today, since more homeowner's associations have taken over homes, and the use of eminent domain has increased exponentially, and since a multitude of foreclosures have been pushed by banks who take over homes that they don't hold mortgages on?
Does the sum of the influence of modern medicine increasing the life expectancy overall + the increased affinity to leisure time rather than hard work, create an unsustainable situation where more people retire than those who work hard?
Does the deterioration of work ethic have any place in this scheme, and is it a fact at all? Also the deteriorating levels of critical thinking on part of large chunks of the populace, due to cliched, backward, and inadequate education and the focusing on regurgitating old talking points and concepts that are learned by heart, as opposed to being understood and critically examined - am I just imagining things, or is it a factor that Ferguson hasn't... "factored in"? Does it have a role in the way society is shaped today? In other words, are people generally losing their ability to come up with new fresh ideas due to complacency, and are they instead preferably resorting to old schemes? And even if not so, would it pose a big risk for society in the long-term?
And lastly, has the consumer society reached a point of ultimate gluttony (or there's still room to dig even further down), with such nice manifestations of it like rampant obesity (think Wall-E), laziness (both physical and intellectual), and the neglect of personal savings at the expense of living on credit, way beyond our means? I.e., has our society at large passed the critical point of unsustainability? If not yet - when/if? If yes - is there a way back?
And how about Ferguson's mention of China and Libya... Is it even possible to have a democracy without comprehensive property rights? Is such a society sustainable in the long run?
Sorry that I don't have answers to all these. Perhaps I'll come up with some myself, in the course of the discussion. But I'd be more willing to hear some opinions for the time being.